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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29882703">Duly Decorated</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/sparklight/pseuds/sparklight'>sparklight</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Ancient Greek Religion &amp; Lore</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Cowgirl Position, Fluff and Smut, Gender Identity, Gender Issues, Jewelry, M/M, Mentioned Apollo (Ancient Greek Religion &amp; Lore), Period Typical Attitudes, Riding, Romance, Seduction</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-03-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-16 03:16:18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>7,605</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29882703</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/sparklight/pseuds/sparklight</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Ganymede wants to do something fun and put some effort into seducing Zeus for the eventual pleasing results, but coming up with how that should be done, and then going through with it, is more difficult than he might have expected.</p><p>The effort and uncertainties pay off, in the end.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Ganymede/Zeus (Ancient Greek Religion &amp; Lore)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>27</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Duly Decorated</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Staring out the window, Ganymede felt like doing... something. Not in a general sense, that was, because there was a vast array of things and a number of people he could and would do such with. Rather, he wanted to do something to <i>seduce Zeus</i>. Not that he necessarily needed to, and not that he was in the least afraid he'd somehow lost his lover's attention or affection. No, he just wanted to do something fun, something that might get Zeus looking at him in a very particular way. </p><p>The sort of look and the sort of moment where Zeus could get him hard with a look alone if it lasted too long.</p><p>The problem was, every time he tried to think of something specific, it was like all his experience and knowledge fled right out of his head, like the many intervening years between now and when he'd been taken to Olympos didn't exist. It left him feeling as callow as he'd certainly been when he hadn't just looked seventeen, but <i>been</i> seventeen, with a handful of experimental handjobs and very enthusiastic kisses to his name. Not that he wasn't, still, seventeen in a way, but there was still such a vast difference between having been newly dropped onto the grass in the garden attached to the rooms that were now his and now. A dizzying amount of difference, which was only clear when he looked to the past like this.</p><p>And yet, trying to intentionally plan, compared to just acting, always left him awkward and fumbling.</p><p>Sighing, Ganymede put the lyre to the side, grimacing. It'd only become more popular of an instrument as Hellas got through that collapse of civilization and rose up again, but his ability with it hadn't become any more refined or natural. Ganymede just didn't have any skill with it, which at least matched how he felt about his wants right now. No skill, despite that he should have it. Ganymede knew very well that if he just let it happen, he would not really need to plan anything at all - he <i>could</i> inflame Zeus with just a look, in bending over in the right way.</p><p>That wasn't what this was about. He wanted to do something, and he wanted something <i>specific</i>.</p><p>Whatever that "specific" was.</p><p>Like a gift of truly divine inspiration, Apollo gave him an idea that very evening. The Muses were singing something teasing and light-hearted about a recent political situation in Athens - Ganymede  wasn't exactly paying attention, hadn't been able to, because Apollo was wearing a jewelled thigh band.</p><p>It was visible with every shift of his chiton, a teasing flash of gold. With every step and sweep of his leg light caught in the metal, for Apollo was wearing it on the side where the chiton parted, only the belt keeping the garment together below the pins at Apollo's shoulders to preserve some modesty. The piece of jewellery was a thin, double band of gold, dripping with citrines placed in bunches like flowers and round amber beads, dangling against the soft skin and supple muscle of Apollo's thigh.</p><p>Ganymede had to fight not to stare. Usually, it was easy; Apollo meant far more to him in ways that had absolutely nothing to do with his attractiveness, and it was better that way. But he couldn't help but look right now - luckily he was nowhere near Zeus at the moment, and Eros had even extended a wing to shield him. Though as helpful as that was...</p><p>"Do I need to intervene, here?" Eros asked, his green eyes glittering and a smirk on his lips, and Ganymede flushed, looking back down at the board between them, then up at Eros to glower at him.</p><p>"<i>Definitely</i> not," Ganymede hissed, hoping any anxiety didn't bleed through. Eros, for all that he was a lot more mature now than he'd been hundreds of years earlier, was still a rascal. "I'm fine. He just helped me with something I've been thinking about." </p><p>That was true, and truth infused Ganymede's voice with ardent earnestness. Eros still eyed him with far too much amusement, too much <i>knowing</i>, and Ganymede couldn't stop blushing. He knew he had been staring, and not it hadn’t been for pure professional interest in getting a solution to his problem.</p><p>Or, partial solution, anyway. Ganymede wasn't sure he wanted to go through with it, but that thigh band looked... really nice. He also knew it was, as far as he was aware, only women who wore such jewellery. </p><p>And Apollo, of course. Dionysos a lot of the time as well. The things was, Apollo was Apollo. He sometimes turned up dressed in the same clothes a woman might wear, and he wore them just as well as a woman might. It wasn't anything Ganymede was interested in emulating, but that thigh band... He sneaked another look over his shoulder, helpless not to. Then he decisively turned around and focused on the game board between him and Eros and the next move he had to make.</p><p>Still, the image lingered in Ganymede's thoughts, and the idea wouldn't go away.</p><p>Could he, even if such a piece of jewellery was mostly for women? He wasn't Apollo, or Dionysos. He was not one of the Deathless Ones, where few to no one would dare to say anything whenever Apollo felt like wearing the flowing peplos, or, earlier, the flounced skirts and open robes. Or, for that matter, whenever Artemis and Athena decided to wear the shorter tunics and chiton men usually wore. They were all... well, what they were. Ganymede was just Ganymede and while he was sure he could pull it off - if not nearly as well as Apollo, maybe - wearing dresses wasn't what he was interested in. But that thigh band still lingered in his mind, sticking there like a poor fly caught in a spider's net, and finally he gave up.</p><p>He was indeed getting one of those. He might not be one of the gods, but he was counted among the blessed immortals. It was just a single piece of jewellery, what could it hurt? It was definitely still a woman's piece of jewellery, but he never otherwise felt any urge to pile on jewellery like the women - mortal and immortal alike - did. He could get this one thing.</p><p>Ganymede also knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that it would be appreciated, and that just brought him back to anticipation.</p><p>Unfortunately, the next obstacle was nearly as great as his own uncertain anxiety about potentially wearing it, since now he had to actually acquire such a piece of jewellery.</p><p>Ganymede stared at his collection of rings, fillets, a couple discrete anklets he wore rarely, and not a one of them would work. Or look nice where it was supposed to be worn. He was certainly not going to beg Hebe for a necklace - the idea of wearing one of Hebe's necklaces, even changed for his purpose, when trying to seduce her father honestly made him feel a little ill. </p><p>Going to Hephaistos was out of the question as well. The idea of coming calling at Aglaia and Hephaistos' palace and then have to look at a god that looked so much like his mother and say he wanted a piece of jewellery no man would usually wear and have Hephaistos know he wanted it for the pleasure of his mother’s husband brought a chill to Ganymede's spine. A ring, a fillet - those he could see asking for. Not this. Not even if Hephaistos had looked nothing like Hera. Hephaistos was hardly stupid; such a piece of jewellery he'd figure out what Ganymede was angling for with it and that was just embarrassing, if not as much as imagining Hebe asking him what he might need one of her necklaces for when he didn't like wearing them.</p><p>Apollo... no. Not that either. There were things he could easily talk to Apollo about he might not go to anyone else with, but not this. Not that Apollo wouldn't understand. He'd probably be encouraging if Ganymede made any noise about what he wanted, and reassurance would honestly be nice, but the idea froze him up just contemplating it.</p><p>So, none of them. He'd just go straight down to the cities below Olympos and buy what he was looking for. No one would ask what he wanted it for, anonymous as he'd be. It might not be as nice of a piece as Hephaistos could make, but that didn't mean it would be ugly. Smiling in newfound relief, Ganymede left to get himself a chariot.</p><p>Then came the third obstacle.</p><p>"How large does it need to be?"</p><p>Ganymede looked up from the handful of finished pieces set out as displays, wide-eyed and choking on his breath. The man behind the counter was short and thin, with long fingers and callouses all along them. His beard caught auburn in the light from the large window beside the door behind them. He was also the actual owner of the shop, since the man had sent his slave away the second he'd seen Ganymede, choosing to attend to him himself.</p><p>"How large?" he croaked, awkwardly breathy amidst the rasp of his voice, and Ganymede ignored the jeweller's arrested blink. It mattered little, as did the weight of his flickering stare on him, unable to stay away from Ganymede's face.</p><p>"For wearing, young master. Thighs comes in many sizes. You get the wrong one and she's not going to be happy no matter how pretty the gift is."</p><p>He should've thought of this. Ganymede groaned internally at the realization coming far too late to aid him. He hadn't even thought to measure himself, even by eyeballing, before he left, so that he might have a quick answer. He could leave, of course. Choose another jeweller in some other city within easy reach of the languages that he spoke, but having to redo the initial song and dance to get to the point of how wide he'd need the piece to be seemed a hassle, and Ganymede, even with his determination to complete this, was flustered enough. No, he wouldn't be able to do this again, not as soon as he might like, and he'd already have to wait if he should get a piece as nice as he might wish it and to his specifications. The solution, then, was to put hope to his ability to act, if not lie.</p><p>"Oh, of course," he said with a smile, though not managing to laugh the whole thing off. "I admit I forgot that, but she has great legs, similar in build to mine."</p><p>It felt weird to be talking about a woman, no matter how imaginary and theoretical, in that way. Not that he was blind and couldn't see or appreciate feminine beauty in all its forms, for if he couldn't he would surely have insulted at least one goddess in his long life so far, if only by accident. It was more having to present it as something he would find attractive himself. Worse was that after he'd said he was looking for a gift, the man had looked at him as if he was crazy, and Ganymede had realized he was at the very least a couple years too young to be considered for marriage in this day and age and within the reach of Hellas' sphere of influence. He simply couldn't be buying a slightly questionable piece of jewellery for his new wife <i>or</i> a concubine, which left prostitutes. And who bought expensive gifts for prostitutes, even if they were hetaira?</p><p>Or did they? He didn’t know. He had never needed to know. Ganymede had, thus, simply been stuck with his somewhat strange lie, but at least he wasn't being called out on it.</p><p>Looking away from the suddenly intent look aimed at him, then down his body, Ganymede eyed his own thigh, but the fall of the chiton was too long, and so bent over to get an at least approximate appreciation of the size the thigh band would need to be. It was strange, honestly. He'd never paid much actual thought to any given part of him in terms of size and looks of them, aside from appreciating what the whole of him looked like whenever he might spot himself in a mirrored surface large enough. Actually putting his hand around one of his thighs, feeling the shift of muscle underneath soft skin, the spread of his hands around the limb, made him starkly aware of what Zeus - and anyone else who might behold him - was looking at. As well as what they were appreciating.</p><p>Straightening back up, Ganymede hoped he wasn't blushing when he met the jeweller's eye, hoping the dark-eyed, intent look was only for the man's own fantasies about a young man buying something to improbably seduce his teacher, even if those were probably closer to the truth than the lie Ganymede was clutching in his hands like a fisherman hauling his catch out of his nets.</p><p>"About this large." Holding his hands up, Ganymede was relieved to see the man’s focus switch to his hands and nod. He gestured to one of the pieces he'd pulled out earlier and spread out on the counter, thoughtful now.</p><p>"That one would be the right size, but if you don't like the look of it we can make one, of course. Depending on how you might want it to look you might have to wait, however." The man was apologetic and a little anxious for the potentially lost sale, but he needn't worry. Ganymede, though he wished he could just take the band suggested, shook his head. It'd have to be from scratch, and he'd have to be patient. Silver and sapphires arranged in the shapes of flowers just wasn't what he was looking for.</p><p>"I can wait. I was looking more for something in gold and with emeralds. They don't need to be large, but I'd like one each between a meander wave pattern, with the band about as wide as my thumb. I wouldn't want it to be too large," Ganymede said, frowning thoughtfully down at the five different pieces on the counter, then froze as he realized what he'd said, wondering if that was too revealing. Hoping it might be taken as him saying he'd like it to look that way because it was what the so-supposed recipient would like. "If that would be possible?"</p><p>Clinging on to nonchalance for dear life, Ganymede looked up with a polite smile, and while he couldn't tell if the man knew there was not even a hetaira in the picture or not, it didn't matter. He hoped it didn't matter. The jeweller nodded easily enough and clapped a hand onto the counter, looking as pleased as one might expect when it came to a commissioned piece of jewellery.</p><p>"Worry not! We can have that done, it'll be easy enough."</p><p>Ganymede fled the shop feeling both accomplished and terribly flustered. Thwarted, too, because now he would have to wait for it to be finished, and he'd been ready to throw himself into wearing one of these things the moment he'd decided he <i>would</i> go through with it. </p><p>He knew very well that if he'd swallowed his pride and embarrassment and gone to Hephaistos, he would've had what he wanted within a day. He still couldn't imagine doing it. It was one thing to take any gift Zeus gave him and just ignore where it might have come from, and another entirely to go talk to someone he had to see relatively regularly and ask for something he absolutely knew what he was using it for.</p><p>At least that was actually the last of the obstacles put in place before he could satisfy an itch that had, by now, lasted quite a while and not gotten fulfilled. There was something to say for that, honestly. The sense of giddy anticipation and triumph was very sweet indeed when he came back to Olympos with his new treasure weeks later and, after a moment of consideration whether he would have to wait any further and being rather sure that no, he didn't, was pleasant. He didn’t go all the way back to his own rooms, instead found a handy room close to the palace propylaia to put the thigh band on.</p><p>The chiton was a hair too long.</p><p>The thigh band sat right where it was supposed to, but the chiton covered it a bit too much to truly give the effect Ganymede wanted. </p><p>It would, of course, be partially visible with every step either way as the chiton parted in the movement, but that was just not enough. With a thoughtful twist to his lips, Ganymede belted the chiton slightly shorter and grinned, pleased. Now, the bottom edge of the gold band was just barely visible even when he stood still, revealing there was something there no matter what, and any movement ought to give a flash of green as light might catch onto at least one emerald every time. If he stretched, or bent over - as long as he was seen from behind for that - it'd be fully in view. The wave pattern curved partially around each emerald, emphasizing each gem and highlighting the etching of the wave meander as well. Ganymede felt ridiculously pleased for the overall look, for how simple it was.</p><p>It made him feel less awkward about what he was wearing, enough so it was easy to appreciate it for its own sake.</p><p>The only thing that might make it better when he was actually naked was one of those straps that would hang diagonally over his chest, medallions dangling along its length. He had one where each medallion alternated with an etching of a winged sun with an emerald in the middle and an eagle clutching an emerald in its claws. It would go with the thigh band very well, if not entirely match the pattern.</p><p>Matching completely didn’t matter so much; the greater point was the total visual effect, at least this first time.</p><p>Ganymede's pleased confidence in his accomplishment easily propelled him out of the room and down through the corridors. He knew Zeus was with Athena in the main library, had been when he left Olympos, anyway, and hopefully he was still there. It would honestly be closer if he went there immediately, but unless he met Zeus at some point between now and his own rooms, he was determined to go fetch one of those straps. Besides, an idea of how other people might react at the sight of him would be reassuring.</p><p>Ganymede wasn't usually interested in necessarily <i>showing off</i> - he had no need to, at all. Something like this, even with it being the culmination of a so-far thwarted desire, needed a little bit more shoring up, however. Even just walking back towards his rooms was battering his determination. He had no idea how Artemis, or Apollo and Dionysos, did this with no seeming care at all, but they were gods. He was not, and even if he was held in such blessed regard, he was still human. Could he really do what the Deathless Ones did so easily? </p><p>Having gotten this far, Ganymede knew he would regret it if he backed off and just took that dumb piece of jewellery off, but he was not a girl, and he was not one of the gods. Just because he did like how it looked didn't mean it didn't look ridiculous.</p><p>The nymphs were the first to notice.</p><p>They usually did, when it came to the internal workings of Olympos, no matter how great or small. Ganymede knew and considered a couple of them his friends, for all that he wasn't very eager to deal with Hebe's troop of nymph companions. Less because there was something objectionable about nymphs in general and more because too many in a group was overwhelming, and they were definitely much too <i>girls</i> for him. He didn't see any of the ones he knew personally right at this moment, and as he slipped around a corner and paused at the pillar there to listen, he was glad for it. It would just be far too awkward, no matter what might be said, to have to hear it from people he considered friends or acquaintances. </p><p>Standing here like this was absolutely against his better judgement, but for a chance to silence the returning uncertainty, Ganymede didn't continue down the corridor. He knew they’d paid attention, having felt their eyes on him, and the group of five nymphs, looking much like newly bloomed flowers and smelling much the same, obliged Ganymede's curiosity, however unknowingly.</p><p>"Did you <i>see that</i>? It's just--- so <i>unfair</i>!" A stomped foot accompanied by a huff, the nymph’s voice drifting down the corridor. They must have stopped, which was fortunate for Ganymede.</p><p>"I'd like someone to make an effort like that for <i>me</i>," another one said, "especially if it was <i>him</i>, but Father Zeus---"</p><p>"Even if the king wasn't, he still wouldn't be interested in any of us, you know. It's obvious what he prefers."</p><p>A chorus of agreeing murmurs, and Ganymede, feeling more and more embarrassed and awkward for listening in, contemplated just leaving. </p><p>This was really not what he'd been looking for, and eavesdropping on these poor nymphs was just rude, really. They hadn't asked for it just because he was feeling awkward over wearing something he didn't actually need to wear. Ganymede pushed away from the pillar to leave, freezing as the first nymph spoke up again, stomping her foot.</p><p>"That's <i>not</i> what I meant! The greatest thighs anyone short of the Deathless Ones could ask for, so he certainly doesn't need anything to make anyone wish they could cop a feel or enjoy even just a glimpse, and <i>did you see</i> that band? Can't he leave jewellery like that to the rest of us who might <i>need it</i>? How's anyone supposed to work in this place like this!"</p><p>Ganymede had heard enough, though he didn't miss the flurry of agreeing laughter and sighs even as he crept away as quickly as he could. He really shouldn't have stayed to listen, he knew that, but at least none of them had thought he shouldn't wear it for the reasons Ganymede had been wavering over wearing or not wearing it for. </p><p>Clearing his throat as soon as he was sure he was out of earshot, he hurried the rest of the way, feeling every stray - or not to stray - glance like an arrow to his back. Or thighs, as the case may be. Which was fine, that was what he'd wanted, though the one set of eyes that really mattered hadn't seen him yet. Ganymede also knew very well that Zeus would've appreciated it even if mostly everyone else would have thought he shouldn't wear it because he wasn't a girl. He could also just have worn his chiton low enough until he might suspect he was about to run into Zeus, but making that sort of production out of it would be far too awkward even this whole thing already was such, and felt a little too calculated on top of that.</p><p>Not that this already wasn't that, since the <i>intent</i> certainly was calculated, but surely there was a difference between those things.</p><p>He was overthinking this.</p><p>Luckily he was also right at the last set of stairs, so Ganymede took them with winged steps, hurrying down the corridor and across the court with its skylight, and down into his own rooms. Found the long, thin chain of gold with medallions dangling from it and put it on, hesitating only long enough to decide to pin the chiton back up over both his shoulders. Better not distract from the main feature.</p><p>Patting his chest, Ganymede wound his way up back towards the central courtyard and the entrance to the library. </p><p>The large library was a lovely place, airily lit in the reading areas but darker where the scrolls were kept, to protect them from the sunlight. There were texts in there Ganymede knew without a doubt didn't exist any more in any earthly library within their sphere. It was a pity some of these texts weren't available for mortals any more, but at the very least none of those texts were completely lost, and the same would go for every single work being produced or brought into the sphere now, as well. Each text was painstakingly procured by Hermes and handed over to Athena, who had nymphs to help her make at least one copy, and duly placed in the library.</p><p>Despite his mission and being very interested to see the payout, Ganymede still slowed as he ascended the short stairs and walked past the towering columns of the portico and into the library. It was cool in here, with long lances of sunlight coming in from the right where the only windows were. They offered a long row of nice reading niches or tables to spread out on; the rest was cut off from the windows by a wall running the length of the building, that side lit up only by oil lamps or divine light.</p><p>Zeus and Athena, luckily, were both still in the library and hadn't ensconced themselves into any of the smaller rooms on the top floor. Rather, they sat right there by the first table near to the beginning of the dividing wall, several scrolls spread out between them. They both looked up as he came in and Ganymede smiled as if he wasn't at all feeling the gentle squeezing weight of the thigh band around his thigh, or the light thump of the medallions against his chest with every step. Instead he waved shortly, then paused after another couple steps.</p><p>"I was going to get something to read, but if you needed anything..?" he offered, and it wasn't something he needed to do. There were plenty of nymphs to provide such service, Ganymede's task was rather particular. But even if he hadn't had an ulterior motive he would've paused anyway, and said the same thing, because it pleased him to do so. Zeus smiled, brief and small, but it warmed his face from his eyes down to the set of his chin, and Ganymede's own smile brightened, and he straightened up even as he tipped his head just a shade. The way Zeus' expression went richly sweet just emphasized the other reasons Ganymede would always have paused to interrupt.</p><p>"No, Ganymede. We have all we need, so," Zeus' said, flicking a glance over Ganymede reflexively, and Ganymede shifted on his feet, deliberately compared to the thoughtless appreciation of Zeus' attention earlier, and knew when Zeus saw what he was wearing as the hem of the swaying chiton caught his attention. "So you may go about your business."</p><p>The weight of Zeus' stare left Ganymede a little short of breath as he nodded, turned - sharply enough the material once more swayed about his thighs, more pronounced this time, and if divine gaze alone could be a touch, Ganymede could swear he felt a trailing such along the hem of the chiton and, more pertinently, the edge between flesh and metal.</p><p>"But I will need you to come by my study later. Mid-afternoon." Zeus' voice had dropped into a rumble, and Ganymede pressed his lips together.</p><p>"Yes, my lord."</p><p>Ganymede fled deeper into the library so he was safely away from any piercing divine eyes, and still slapped a hand over his mouth so his grin was hidden while he was so far from view. The faint creep of heat in his veins and a heaviness that leaned towards actual hardness between his legs was a cheap price to pay for his initial success.</p><p>Of course, Ganymede didn't stay in the library. He did choose a scroll, wandering around until he found one he actually had intended to pick up at some point, and left the same way he'd come. Zeus' eyes followed his every step, lingering low on his back and on the shift of his chiton. It was supremely hard to not put a swing to his hips and slow his walk, but he knew he'd start to feel self-conscious if he did that so deliberately. Besides, giving Zeus nothing more than the brief look during the natural time it took him to walk out the door was certainly better than giving him a better view so soon. </p><p>A little over two hours was spent reading out in the sunlight, sprawled out on the bench in his little garden. Somehow Ganymede was able to concentrate despite that every shift of his right leg reminded him of the golden band there, and thus of Zeus' eyes on him when he'd noticed he was wearing something that usually wasn't there.</p><p>Anticipation finally drove Ganymede out into the corridors of the palace a little earlier than he thought he might need to. Crossing the courtyard for the kitchens, however, he caught Zeus leaving the library and Ganymede pretended like he couldn't feel the god's divine presence, couldn't feel his eyes on him. Pretended he couldn't hear the steps most definitely going in his direction before Zeus veered away, firmly taking himself to his study. Ganymede was still muffling snickers, flush with his growing success, when he wandered into the kitchens.</p><p>"You don't look like you're here to offer help," Hestia said, eyebrows arched high up near the curls framing her forehead and wrist-deep in dough. Ganymede stopped at the worktable and cleared his throat, but the smile crept back in no matter how he tried to fight it, and the sparkle to his eyes was irrepressible.</p><p>"Zeus wants me to join him in his study, so I thought I should bring over some refreshments for him," he said and did mean it, but Hestia's gaze on him turned sharp, and she pursed her lips. Somehow, he held up under it and neither squirmed not blushed. If she'd let go even the smallest little bit of her essence, it wouldn't have been nearly as easy, because no matter the seeming unobtrusiveness of her presence, it was a gentle sort of inevitability that could leave anyone under it pinned before they knew it.</p><p>"Go on then. You know where everything is."</p><p>He nodded and turned, disappearing into storage to get a jug and fill it, and definitely didn't pause when Hestia wrangled her obvious chuckle into a wondering hum, polite as could be asked for.</p><p>"I see."</p><p>That was a comment, not a question or something requiring Ganymede to answer, so he didn't. On the other hand it tripped him over his self-control, and Ganymede was blushing as he hurriedly left the kitchens, oinochoe clutched in his hands. </p><p>The embarrassment didn't last. Not so close to hopefully getting proper payoff for all that'd led up to this. Pausing in front of the door to the study for a moment, Ganymede took a breath, then let it out. His stomach fluttered, and he was glad he wouldn't actually have to do much of anything but what he might already have done when he walked in there. It'd been enough of a struggle to get here; if he had to add deliberate seduction he'd be liable to trip over himself. Literally or metaphorically.</p><p>Opening the door, Ganymede slipped inside, meeting Zeus' raised head with a smile.</p><p>"I brought wine, if you might wish for something to drin," he said, crossing the floor with no great hurry but certainly not dragging it out, either. "Did you want me for something specific, piḫaššaššiš?"</p><p>Zeus wasn't even looking him in the face, and Ganymede was hard-pressed for his polite smile to turn into an outright smirk. Zeus' gaze had fallen down along his body by his second step, and was now locked low. The earlier flush of arousal returned and Ganymede wet his lips as Zeus' jaw shifted, a noise just barely above human hearing escaping him.</p><p>"Put that jug down and undress." The words were surprisingly hard - if Ganymede had been here any less time than he had, he might have worried he'd done something wrong. Crossed a line somehow, somewhere. Now, while his heart did trip over itself in a tumbling staccato, the way his stomach clenched had not a thing to do with fear.</p><p>As soon as it was within reach, he put the oinochoe down onto the desk. Then, while there was brief temptation to stop right there and start stripping without being in full view and make Zeus tell him to come around the desk, Ganymede was far more interested in showing off the effort he'd gone through than to tease. Zeus was still drawing breath just as Ganymede did step around the desk, undoing one of the pins of his chiton as he did so. Dropping the eagle pin onto wood just as fabric dropped away from half his chest and light caught in the gold draped diagonally over his skin, partially revealed, Ganymede glanced up as he fiddled with the belt.</p><p>One of Zeus' heavy eyebrows were raised, his lips slightly parted, and Ganymede could have been blind and still felt the weight of that gaze on him. It made his cock twitch, though he wasn't yet so hard the perizoma was uncomfortable. </p><p>Undoing his belt, he dropped it onto the floor and then removed the second eagle pin, the chiton falling to the floor around his feet in a flutter of cloth. Ganymede had to shift on his feet, not against his own arousal, or for any anxiety or anticipation. Rather because, no matter how used to it that he might be, Zeus' divine regard was hard to bear and not fold down to the floor onto his knees.</p><p>"Ganymede..." The murmur was dark, a bare rumble like distant thunder while the sky was clear, and it made Ganymede's bones tremble. </p><p>Swallowing heavily, a prickling flush heating his cheeks and creeping downwards, Ganymede stood still as Zeus reached out, fingering one of the medallions dangling from the strap across his chest. Those gray eyes, heavy and dark, were focused on Ganymede's thighs, however. Or thigh, rather.</p><p>"Yes?" Trying for nonchalance was impossible; Ganymede's voice wavered with as much arousal as near giddy pleasure. This was definitely worth it, even before anything had really happened.</p><p>"Is this the only one?" Zeus asked as he let go off the medallion and trailed his hand down, a caress that might almost had been sweet if it wasn't for how it ended in a squeezing grip around Ganymede's thigh, right below the thigh band. There was nothing sweet about <i>that</i>, and Ganymede regretted not having taken off the perizoma already.</p><p>"... Yes. I didn't know if I'd like it, but I wanted to try, so I went down, bought it from a mortal jewelle--- <i>Zeus</i>!" </p><p>Ganymede flushed, hearing himself almost squawk for how that grip immediately turned decidedly possessive and Zeus' expression turned dark in ways that had little to do with arousal. </p><p>His heart thumping slightly unevenly in his chest, but the thickening heat in his veins was embarrassingly wanting of the displeased twist to Zeus' mouth as he yanked Ganymede closer. Undoing Ganymede's perizoma himself, Zeus grabbed one buttock, his other hand remaining around Ganymede's thigh, thumb stroking over the metal. Clearly not so displeased for the origin of the thigh band that he would demand it gone. Ganymede rolled his eyes and lightly shoved at the mountain of immovable chest in front of him and got nowhere for it. Zeus' grip was as unyielding but gentle as that very first time he'd taken hold of Ganymede, sharp eagle claws clutching soft flesh without marring it.</p><p>"I measured myself," Ganymede said, and definitely didn't think about the owner's look, imagination probably taking that man many places to substitute for his inability to touch a customer clearly out of his league.</p><p>"Did you?" Zeus' narrow look wasn't disbelief, and Ganymede smiled. Leaned in and kissed his god until the displeasure had melted and he was hauled up to straddle Zeus' lap. "You should've gotten a second one to match. I will arrange for it myself."</p><p>Zeus was still stroking along the edge between skin and gold, his other hand creeping down to clutch Ganymede's other thigh in the same spot the thigh band sat on its own thigh, and Ganymede laughed, pleased. "I'd like that. But maybe this one can be the only one to look like this?"</p><p>Ganymede's question was answered with an agreeing hum. He wouldn't need to figure out how or where to get any more of them, and this first one, singular as it was and to his own specifications, would remain special. To both of them. He really should have thought of getting a matching pair, but he'd been so focused on just getting it done one had been more than enough. Thinking back on it, Ganymede wasn't sure if Apollo had been wearing one or two. He only remembered the one, but that might be because Apollo had worn it on the side his chiton split open, leaving it within easy view even when the length had fallen past where the thigh band was worn.</p><p>Zeus was still caressing his thighs, and it was making the insides of them tingle, the golden sensation shooting up into his stiffening cock. Which was being completely ignored, and Ganymede was almost about to take himself in hand when Zeus shook his head.</p><p>"Ride me, beloved. I want to be able to pay all due attention to this." Pointedly, Zeus squeezed right underneath the slim band of gold, and though he let go with his other hand to close it, then once more opening it to a small pool of oil in his palm, he did nothing at all to otherwise aid Ganymede in fulfilling his demands, gaze far more intent on watching Ganymede move.</p><p>Flushed but smiling, Ganymede pushed the draping fabric of the chiton aside, which allowed Zeus to tip his hand over his quickly stiffening cock. Ganymede's hand following the drizzling trails of oil, along with a teasing little twisting rub right below the head, helping the foreskin slide down, finished matters and drove a reverberating moan to rumble deep in Zeus' chest. Ganymede shifted a little forward on the chair, his perch was a little awkward but not unworkable. He simply kept his hand on the divine length to guide him, the narrow space familiar, but it also meant Ganymede was so focused on what he was doing he was not ready at all for the hand then around <i>his</i> erection, jumping into it with a startled groan and toes curling.</p><p>"Z-zeus---"</p><p>"Focus on what you're doing, sweet Ganymede," Zeus said, a slow, luxurious smile as much in his voice as on his face, squeezing the slender cock trapped in his large hand and rubbing over the head.</p><p>Ganymede wasn't sure how he was supposed to concentrate on what he was doing, when all he wanted to do was give in to the desire to lean into the sensations Zeus was pulling from him. Still, he swallowed and let himself sink down, teeth creeping out to catch his bottom lip as the head of Zeus' cock pressed against him and then, no matter how impossible it always felt, it started to slip inside.</p><p>Zeus gave another encouraging stroke and Ganymede wasn't sure whether the noise out of him was in appreciation for that, for the threatening stretch of Zeus making space for himself, or in protest for Zeus then <i>removing his hand</i>. </p><p>Quivering, Ganymede had to catch his breath against both sensation and the loss of it, but didn't pause. There was a faint breeze in from the open windows, and the lack of solid, divine heat around his already nearly throbbing length, combined with the teasing brush of air, was nearly as maddening as Zeus' cock shifting into place, lightning nerves simply by passing.</p><p>The hand Ganymede had been deprived came to rest at his hip, heavy but allowing free movement as much as the one clutching his thigh did. Resting there with no movement at all, and Ganymede was left to seat himself at his own speed, toes curling fitfully not even halfway through it.</p><p>Zeus was always going to be large, even when he slipped right back inside after they had already finished once, and this time was no exception. </p><p>It was of course not only a matter physical size. Inviting some part of a divine being inside yourself like this would undoubtedly have been overwhelming even if Zeus had been of a more human size, but it was far easier to focus on the simple physicality of the hard, heavy length as Ganymede dropped down fully and rocked in place, giving both of them ample reason to struggle a little for noise. Despite his earlier demand, Zeus leaned in and kissed Ganymede, lazy and deep, instead of sitting back so he could watch him. </p><p>All the while, he kept playing around the thigh band, and soon it was Ganymede who pulled away, shifting up.</p><p>Light flashed on the gold medallions dangling from the slim chain draped diagonally over Ganymede's chest and caught in the emeralds set into the thigh band, shifting with every flex of muscle. Ganymede had rarely been so terribly aware of his own legs, the way the metal dug in there, the way Zeus' hand was heavy just underneath it, but it was inescapable. To say nothing of the weight of divine regard, fixed as it was. Ganymede might have been embarrassed for how it might have left him twitching and a drop spilling up, and then trailing down along his length, if the sensation wasn't so familiar and Zeus hadn't at times before managed to nearly make him come from not just touch or voice, but gaze alone.</p><p>His breath kept getting stuck as he rose up, then forced out of him as he was filled again, tiny huffs of air he couldn't quite keep hold of. Worse - better - when Zeus sometimes pulled him off quicker than Ganymede was moving, or weighed his hands down to force him to fight against divine strength as he rose up. Pulled him down onto his cock out of Ganymede's rhythm, leaving him dizzy from that as much as for the feeling of the way Zeus' muscles flexed when he clamped down around him, rolling his hips.</p><p>And still there was that heavy stare, only sometimes lifting up to watch the bounce of the chain as it slapped against Ganymede's toned chest, but mostly fixed on his thigh. It made Ganymede feel like he was on fire.</p><p>"Next time, perhaps omit this," Zeus said and briefly lifted a hand to touch one of the medallions to the chain, idly as if Ganymede wasn't fucking himself on his dick, as if he wasn't helping him do so. As if there wasn't a slight creeping flush in reaction colouring his cheeks, his hands clamped down heavy on soft, giving flesh, muscled though it was. "It's distracting. Or wear it alone, for it does so become you, beloved."</p><p>"Ah--- I can, yes," Ganymede gasped, then half choked on a moan as Zeus kept him down, grinding himself up into him. He clamped down entirely reflexively, and Zeus <i>twitched</i>, so he repeated it, and his laughter was shoved out of him when Zeus surged forward and took control of both his mouth and his hips.</p><p>Coming, after that, wasn't long in waiting, but Zeus fucked him through that and into a second before he'd come himself, and then, when Ganymede slumped in a liquid drape over him, wrapped his arms around him and sat back in his chair, the warm light around them. </p><p>Zeus had warmed up the metal of the thigh band, and Ganymede could still feel the ghostly impression Zeus had left behind on his skin. With a smile, Ganymede decided that the time it'd taken to get to this point and all his confusion working up to it had <i>definitely</i> been worth it.</p><p>"It's Apollo I have to thank for this, isn't it. Perhaps he'd enjoy some new jewellery as well," Zeus said, in the same idle tone he'd made his comment about Ganymede not wearing the decorative chain with the thigh band, or bands rather, next time, and Ganymede froze. Flushed from head to toe, clamping down on where Zeus was still seated within him, not out of pleasure or meaning to tease, but pure, shocked reaction.</p><p>"... My lord---" Ganymede only got those two pained words out before Zeus burst out into thundering laughter past the initial groan in response to Ganymede tightening around him. He didn't remove him, merely ran a hand through thick, shining curls, gently snagging a couple to tug on his hair.</p><p>"Never fear, darling Ganymede. I am not going to thank my son for inspiring you. He has no business knowing of such matters."</p><p>Ganymede sighed in relief and relaxed again. If Zeus wasn't removing him, he had no trouble remaining here for at least a little while, even if the chain was digging into his chest and stomach when trapped between him and Zeus as it was.</p><p>It didn't matter, not when he was still enjoying the aftermath of both his orgasms and his success.</p>
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